'Shoulder' in expressions

Imagine yourself standing with your shoulder very close to the shoulder of the person next to you, the two of you stay very close and side by side, right? In a situation like this we say that people are shoulder to shoulder.

The immigration officer found many illegal immigrants shoulder to shoulder at the back of the truck.

What about the following sentence?

The puppet troupe has been working shoulder to shoulder for many years to perfect this grand performance.

The expression 'shoulder to shoulder' in this example means that the troupe has been working together and cooperating with one another to achieve a common goal.

Another similar expression is when you 'stand shoulder to shoulder with somebody'; you give them complete support during their difficult time.

Our success would not have been accomplished without Jimmy Brighton, who has stood shoulder to shoulder with us all those years.

Your shoulder can be of even more use such as when you intentionally show unfriendliness towards someone or pay him/her no attention; you are giving them the cold shoulder.

Lilly is weird; one day she is patronising me and the next, she gives me the cold shoulder.

As a verb "shoulder" is an even more interesting topic to talk about. For example, when you shoulder someone, you push them roughly with your shoulders.

What's with the two of you again? - He shouldered me!

Or when you shoulder your way somewhere, you get there by using your shoulder to push people out of the way.

The street was very crowded and nobody seemed to move so Jenny had to shoulder her way to the railway station or she would have missed the train.

We not only use our shoulders to push other people but also to carry something heavy, and from there comes another way in which this word is used; to "accept", as in the phrase "to shoulder responsibility, blame for something":

At the age of 13, Somkid shouldered the responsibility for caring for his frail mother and two other siblings because his father had left them many years ago.

 The phrase means that someone accepts that he/she is responsible for something difficult or bad.

Complete the sentences using the expressions explained.

1. I ......Sarah ......because she told the boss a lie about me.

2. The security company ......for the theft committed by one of their employees.

3. A big crowd turned up at the theatre where the puppet rehearsal took place, and even though they had to be ...... , the performance was so impressive no one complained.

4. We were in a hurry and the market was very busy so we had to ......out of it.

5. It is very impressive to see a group of young enthusiasts ...... for many years to reach their goal.

Answers: 1. gave … the cold shoulder, 2. shouldered the blame/responsibility, 3. shoulder to shoulder, 4. shoulder our way, 5. working shoulder to shoulder

By Parnsap Yomanage